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Sham Of The Perfect. An amazing group of talented photographers from around the world would submit a photo every week of the beauty of their everyday reality. No posing, no yelling don't move or can you stand here please... just a real moment frozen in time.

Oh look it's me again! It's a been fun blogging again, hopefully I can keep this pace up. I am very excited to be part of the Debut Holiday blog tour. I had the privilege to sew up not 1 but 3 cute items from some super talented ladies all new to the world of pdf patterns. All three are awesome patterns, easy to put together, clear instructions, notches in the right place and fun to sew! Seriously looking forward to seeing what they'll be creating next.

is a super sweet sleeveless dress with curves at the princess line and delicate gathers. I absolutely love that the inside is as pretty as the outside with french seams and a lined bodice. I also really love the bias finish at the neckline and armhole.

I made MissE a size 6x with the intention of her growing into it. So it's a little wide at the chest, but she will probably be wearing it with a long sleeve tee until this summer. The length is also great for now and she has plenty of room for her to grow.

The only modification I made was to add a cute little faux collar and I omitted the bias at the princess line. I knew I wanted this dress to be simple but couldn't resist the urge to make it a little special. If you would like I can have a tutorial for this simple add on.

The main dress fabric is a slightly stretchy tomato red sateen. It has just a little shine to it, but you really have to look hard to see it. It is super soft to the hand, yet still has a little stiffness to it perfect for this style. However, it is a pain to iron!

The collar fabric has been in my stash for maybe 10 years now. It's a cotton with small flocked white bow pattern. I have hardly any left and use it very wisely. I wish I knew where to get more!

And just look at that back! Swoon.

And look at that face ( and that smile it, see if you can spot a difference in a photo below)... a very happy girl with her new dress. The wreath crown... not so much. Haha! It was a little itchy and poor kiddo was a little sick and not so much in mood for extra props.

. Well now they are knee high socks, but they started out as tights. I am definitely going to give these a try again. The pair I made ended up a little big and I ran out of time to make them again. The difference in fabric and stretch probably was the reason they ended up being too big. I had used 2 different fabrics to create them, so just ended up cutting them where the sock part ended and added some elastic to hold them up. I absolutely love the knee high socks and end result. I've had this sweater in my up-cycle stash forever and I just love texture in tights. I was going to use the sweater for the Fishtail Kimono, but felt like the red and green was a little too Christmas-ee, so I changed things around and made the socks with them instead.

And how cute are these bambi shoes from H&M? Too bad they are too small already. MissE insisted on wearing them for the photos anyways.

. I changed my mind at least 5 times and finally settled with this grey faux knit sherpa. I was going to make myself a Cocoon coat with it, but it's been sitting on my desk for a year now. MissE always ends up with the good fabric! I wasn't sure if the thickness of the fabric would work with the style, so I knew my good friend Mie had made the Fishtail and asked her what she thought of the idea. She was pretty excited about it, so I tempted my chance and went ahead and cut into the fabric.

I was going to size up, but decided to go with the recommend size for my daughter's measurements. So happy I did. I did widen the neckband a nudge as I wanted it to overlap ever so slightly. After cutting the neckband on bias and not loving my sewing job, I ripped that out and recut it on the grainline as well as added 2cm to the length of each panel. It was well worth all the trouble.

And I used the old neckband to make a belt. So nothing went wasted. I added two small openings in the side seams, so the belt would pass trough it and that way it not disturb the beautiful pleats at the back. Oh and lucky me, I had an exact match for the neckband fabric in my stash. It's a water resistant polyester type fabric, that melts when you iron it, yeah don't ask how I know!

And look how awesome the back is? Such a nice little surprise! As you can see the gathering worked well the thickness of the fabric. I also added some cuffs to the style to give it more of a coat look. One thing I would change if I were to make the Kimono in a thick fabric again, is to move the shoulder seam forward by 2 or 3cm. I found the seam of the sleeve kept rolling back and not sitting at the right place on the shoulder. A very simple adjustment to make it fit perfectly. I just love this style, looks great in so many different fabric, it's super simple and fast to sew and looks super cute and stylish. I am excited to try it again, as well as the other two patterns.

You can get all three patterns in each of designers shops and they are having a 20% discount with promo code: HOLIDAY. So here are their links again: the

Now I couldn't resit taking some photos outside as the weather has been so nice and way above average for this time of year. We took a little stroll after early dismissal yesterday and put this outfit to the test. Sorry for the photo overload.

Don't forget to check out what everyone has been up too- So many good holiday outfits!

A little over a month ago I had the great privilege of spending a weekend with my family filled with lots of fun tennis activities. I got to test drive a Mazda which my kids still talk about. The kids and I got to try out some new tennis rackets and play tennis for the first time. Finally, my husband and I got to see Murray & Djokovic in the Montreal Rogers Cup finals. This was definitely a weekend we won't forget!

Here is a little video giving you a taste of everything we did.

We got to pick up the Mazda on Thursday and by the time we got home, it was already too late to go out and play tennis. We still managed to have a little fun and got creative with the car's headlights and took some funny and experimental photos.

It ended it up raining all day Friday, I can't tell you how disappointed we all were. The kids and I couldn't wait to get that sunroof open and hit the tennis courts. Finally, mother nature listened and not only was Saturday a beautiful but one of the hottest days of the summer.

We took the car for a spin, so smooth and with all the fancy features it was going to be hard to go back to our old car! The kids favourite besides the sun roof had to be the computer screen and the talking GPS system. I have to say the sound system was quite appreciated too!

The kids tried to find their best tennis outfits for the occasion. I think we did pretty good! It's a good thing I am hoarder because I found some wrist bands to complete the looks.

We had a lot fun and the kids are looking to going to Tennis Camp next year!

We dropped the kids of with my sister on Sunday and my husband and I had a day to ourselves, something that doesn't happen very often.

We got to the Uniprix Stadium a little early and got to walk around the venue. We saw the courts being prepped and the warm up session.

We got to see the double's finals, as well as the single's final. It is such a different experience watching a game live as it is watching it on TV. If you are a tennis enthusiast, I highly recommend you go watch a game, even if it's not the finals. This is definitely something I would love to attend again.

The Murray and Djokovic match was such a nail biter. Despite the excruciating heat they mustered the energy to play a high energy game.

It was Murray for the win!

The kids were a little disappointed they didn't see us on the television but were happy to have us back. They are also still disappointed we gave the Mazda back. Now every Mazda we see, they remind me how cool the red one we had was. I have to say I miss it too.

Thank you Mazda Canada for giving my family a weekend to remember! We are looking forward to more tennis filled weekends next summer.

***This post was sponsored by Mazda Canada. I got to test drive a Mazda and tickets to the Rogers Cup final in exchange for this post. As always, all opinions are my own. Thank you Mazda for the opportunity.

With a new year comes new ideas and resolutions, right? I don't usually make resolutions, however I feel like this year I need to set goals and start projects so I don't end up doing nothing. I always have a hundred idea I want to do and then never accomplish anything. Fear of failure, fear of success, fear of making mistakes... yup all three. However, by putting it out there and committing to group projects and blog series is the only way I get things done. I know pathetic, this is another thing I am working on this year. I think you might have noticed that I've been working really hard at improving my photography skills. I've taken multiple classes in last four months and I am finally getting a grasp on taking photos in manual mode. I really want to apply what I've learnt and push myself to take more creative and better photos, so I started a photo journal. It's called Least Little Thing ( yes like my tumblr) because it's the little things that make the up our daily lives, the details, the moments in between. I will be posting daily, I've decided to start a 365 project where I post a photo every day, also I am trying to do a 52 project again and post a portrait of my kids every week. I'll be sharing bit's and pieces of our daily lives, I will try and tell my families story through photos. I will be posting old photos too, like MissE's ballet recital and our trip to Europe. You are more than welcome to follow my journey if you like. Here are a few photos I've taken so far... many more on the photo journal HERE.

I am also part of a new collaborative website called Sham of the Perfect, it is an international collective of photographers who are passionate about both family documentary photography and being mothers. The intent is to tear down the sham of perfection shown in more idyllic work and present life, motherhood, families, childhood, and home as it actually is; full of flaws and full of beauty simultaneously. The blog will launch on Jan 12th and we will be sharing every week from then on. We also have a facebook page and Instagram account where you can tag your photo with #shamoftheperfect for a chance to be featured. We want to see your real family moments! I hope you will come join the in the fun.

I also plan to make little videos this year, some of my family and some for this blog. I know these are just a few of the projects I am working on, should be fun! I am really excited to capture the everyday moments of our daily lives. Hopefully, I will be able to look back in 10, 20, 30 years from now and to never forget. My brain/ memory is just not what it used to be before I had kids.

We picked up this "make your own felt doll" kit while in Paris over the summer. We had started it then but didn't get around to finishing it until a couple of weeks ago. This was MissE's first attempt at sewing. She was so determined, concentrated and felt a huge sense of accomplishment when she finished her little doll. Once she started she just had to finish. Of course she had moment of frustration, but with a little help from me we ended up with a cute doll and a very happy and proud kid.

I was surprise how concentrated she was, we took only a few breaks. She learnt a few different ways to hand stitch. I was amazed how patient and precise she was.

I helped MissE start and finish the ends, as well as stuffing the doll and adding the buttons. I am sure I could have let her do more.

It was a pretty relaxing way to spend a saturday morning.

I only wish the quality of the felt was better in this kit, it's really too bad to spend so much time, only for the doll to fall apart only days after. MissE knows she fragile and takes good care of her. Her brother on the hand doesn't quite understand what delicate means! Thanks for stepping on her with your wet boots the other day.

We will definitely be finding more sewing projects for the kids, MisterM was really interested too. If you have any kits or tutorials you've found to be fun and helpful pass them along in the comments! Thanks.

We had the priviledge a couple of weeks ago to visit the Real Santa Claus at the Complexe Des Jardins here in Montreal! I only told my kids that morning that we were going to visit Le Pere Noel,

and it was going to be their first time visiting him. Well it didn't go quite as I thought it would...

I was delighted when I got a press invite in my inbox, I thought the kids would really enjoy the experience. I was pleasantly surprised with all the activities the Complese Des Jardinsshopping mall provides for the kids during the holiday season. First up was the train ride. I don't know what it is with this train ride, but kids beg us to go on it every time. At this point MissE seemed very anxious to meet the big man and Mister M was just happy to go for the ride.

And off we went!

We were amongst a few other families, mostly small children and even a newborn, as we waited our turn, I could see Mister M was getting uneasy. He has been wanting to see Santa Claus for years. Even during the summer time he looks up in the sky and tries to spot him. I think the anticipations was just too much for him. He kept asking if he was the REAL Santa Claus. Of course he was.

I really thought MissE would be the timid one, but she walked up and talked to Santa like if he was her best friend. He better bring her that doll she asked for!

MisterM refused to get up, he hid behind me. There was no just no convincing him. "That" kid was mine!

Santa Claus got up from his chair and came to MisterM, crouched down and we were able to snap a pic. Look how tense Mister M is.

We received some really nice photos of the kids and Santa, and even a placemat. The photographer and his team were great. MisterM wasn't the only kid who got overwhelmed, some were scared and they had lots tricks to get the kids to take some really lovely photos.

The center offers many other activities until january 1st. If you are in town, it's a great place to bring the kids and do so shopping while you are at it! You can see the full schedule on their website HERE. One of the ongoing event is the amazing fountain show, seriously how high the water goes is phenomenal, you can see this on any given day. There are talent shows and visiting choirs, many different activities planned for the kids. With 2 weeks off from school, I will be studying the upcoming events for sure. The kids and I actually really enjoy strolling downtown, so stopping in the Comple des Jardins and doing something specifically for them will be a big bonus.

One of the fun things to do, is my kids favourite... a ride on the Carousel. It is a really pretty and authentic looking. We don't have them on every street corner like in Paris!

The kids had fun getting some balloons and as much as we wanted to stay for the cooking show, we had to leave to meet up with their dad.

The shopping center has put some great facilities together, with a family room, perfect for feeding babies and changing diapers or taking some time out from all the christmas madness that a shopping center can be. They also have strollers to lend out. A coat check. They really thought of everything.

I was asked by the super sweet and very talented Heidi of Elegance & Elephants to sew a little something something from the newest Five And Ten Design eBook. She is one of the 5 designers collaborating on this pdf pattern ebook - it's such a lovely concept, you get one pattern block and then clear instructions on how to modify the pattern block to create 10 very unique items. Vol.2 is all about coats, and with 10 different ones to choose from you will have sewing projects for the next few years. You can see what I made from vol.1 here if you like, same concept but for dresses.

I decided to go with Look no.1 designed by Delia from Delia Creates. The truth is that with the below zero temperature we are living these days I didn't want to make a light weight jacket that would get used only come the spring time. So I decided to make a simple warm and comfy hoodie, one Miss E could wear under her winter coat and then use as a jacket in the spring. I had this faux fur in my stash since last fall and decided Delia's design would be perfect for it. Here is the thing, I barely had enough to cut out all my pieces and so I ended up making a 3 piece hood which ended up being perfect to sew in my bear ears. I added those too. The striped fabric is a double knit you are probably tired of seeing and I have a lot more, so you will be seeing more of it. It's a good thing I love it!!!

I also decided to make the jacket reversible. You should know by now I love reversible clothes, you get 2 in one!!! And because of this I simply cut 2 of all my pieces and skipped the facings. It's too bad because I really like how simply Delia created those. Seriously, this will be the easiest coat you will ever sew, even with the hood, facings and inseam pockets. The instructions are clear and easy to follow, the sewing is simple and quick.

Now let's see how mine turned out.

You will definitely want to check out the FIVE AND TEN website to see all the other design in the book. You will be surprised how different they all are and how simply you can create them from just one block.
In honor of BLACK FRIDAY you can get 30% on both vol.1 & vol.2 with coupon THANKYOU. Hurry the sale ends Monday.

MissE- turned 5 this week! Where does time fly? The one thing that doesn't change are her big brown eyes.

MisterM- and I spent the week together. Grade 1 starts tomorrow. We had some great mother & son moments.

I started a new photography class this week and got to understand metering. So these photos are unedited ( SOOC). I think I am slowly getting it! Now onto learning about ISO and aperture and white balance! Wish me luck.

If you are participating in the 52 project share your link in the comments I would love to see what you are up to. I know I haven't posted every week, i need to go back and pick out my favourites from every week I missed.

To find out more about the 52 project check out the Practising Simplicity blog. It's never too late to start!

MisterM- I find that as he gets older he smiles a little less each day. He used to be such a smiley baby, I hope he keeps that big smile and joie de vivre always.

MissE- she is the most serious of the two, perhaps she has an older soul. However, she is definitely goofier than he is.

I couldn't help including the top photo- I took an incredible and inspiring online photography class with Kirsten Lewis about Storytelling through photography on Creative Live. I cannot tell you how my world and view has changed. I am not a professional photographer and will never make a living from it but this class has opened my eyes and makes me want to document my kids life in a whole new way. I might be starting a new series on the blog- I need to think about it more but as soon as I figure the details out I will let you know all about it.

These were taken with my Nikon D60 ( I lost my D3200 in London) and with my 35mm lens - all in manual shooting mode. I had a lot of trouble getting the face bright in MisterM's shot but that smile was too good not to share! The photos aren't technically perfect and I have a lot to learn but I am very pleased with the emotion I get from them.

If you are participating in the 52 project share your link in the comments I would love to see what you are up to. I know I haven't posted every week, i need to go back and pick out my favourites from every week I missed.

To find out more about the 52 project check out the Practising Simplicity blog. It's never too late to start!

Have you read the latest issue of La Petite Magazine? Here are just a few of my favourite photos from the latest issue. As always it's filled with beautiful images, photography, styling and of course inspiration. Check it out HERE.

Today I am sharing some Halloween costume Inspiration as part of this fun little series: Handmade Halloween. When Palak asked me to join in the fun I just could't refuse! Halloween is one of the first memories I have of moving to Canada, some 32 years ago and after that first round of trick or treating I was hooked! And it wasn't for the candy- I used to store that away and it took me a year to eat it. It was definitely for dressing up.

Really, any excuse to dress up is a good one in my books. So it's no wonder I love Halloween so much. I get such a quick making my kids costumes, they always have the best souvenirs and are super proud of what we've accomplished. It helps that they won the neighbourhoods 1 & 2 place 2 years ago. And last year they were big enough to realize what was going on a little better. You can see photos of partly cloudy and the shuffle bot here from 2 years ago and of Elvis and his Flamingoherefor last year.

***Note to myself: finish your costumes at least the night before so you can take some decent photos to blog about!

We talk about what we are going to wear all year long, I think they love it to because they are always are involved in the process. I usually ask the kids what they want to dress up as. I do give some guidelines and usually we'll do a little google research too. I absolutely love to look at old vintage photos for inspiration- you might remember my circus costumeand so I thought of sharing some of my favourites.

How cute is that bubble bee costume up top? Now this is a dress your daughter can wear again- are they pleats or gathers? And the wings? Oh! Ever so delicate. For more Vinatge Geisha photos check this site out.

Miss E is crazy for horses. What a great idea this ishorse costume! It looks totally crazy on her, but imagine on a cute little kid. Don't be surprised if you see me try to make something similar!

How funny is this airplane costume? With a little imagination, this could be a great Halloween costume for little boys and girls. For more crazy costumes you have to check this post!

Oh! I just love the collar and sparkle in this Harlequin costume, it is so glamourous. Don't forget the pompoms on the shoes. Photos of Claudette Colbert.

This is one of my all time favourites costumes. This Giraffe I'll have to try one day. You should check out all of Charles Eames Toys, they are phenomenal.

Those wings are spectacular. Miss E almost went as a swan last year, but instead she went as a flamingo. I wish I had seen this bird costume before.

If I show this to Mister M, I think he might just change his mind. These astronauts are too stinkin' cute and so are all the images on this blog.

I love the simplicity of this star costume. I wish I had the source of the image- let me know if you know where it's from.

Here is another bird/ swan costume. There is a little swan lake ballerina vibe going, as well as an Alexander McQueen one. What little girl would't love this? I found this via Tumblr, but cannot find the original source- it's very hard with vintage images sometimes.

How about dressing up as amajorette? I would make this jacket wearable all year round. Maybe the whole family could go as a Marching Band?

I'll be posting many more Halloween ideas over the month so be sure to pop in once in a while. I have these posts from last year which are still fun and full of inspiration: In Need For Some Inspiration& The Iconics.

And the lovely ladies organizing this series, Palak & Heather, have put together an awesome Giveaway with lot's of fun prizes- read all about it HERE. And you can enter right here on the blog if you wish.